Kemi Badenoch vows ‘lower taxes, better services’ at Tory local election campaign launch as she says Nigel Farage’s Reform ‘have never run anything’_Nhy
Kemi Badenoch vowed lower taxes and better services by Conservative councils as she launched the party’s local election campaign today – with a swipe at Nigel Farage‘s Reform UK.
Ms Badenoch admitted that the Tories were likely to lose seats on May 1, having previously won many of them at the height of Tory popularity in 2021.
She used a speech in Buckinghamshire to warn that Reform, which is hopeful of taking many of the Tory seats, to warn that its politicians ‘have never run anything’.
Asked what the ideological difference between the Tories and Mr Farage’s Reform UK is, Mrs Badenoch told reporters: ‘We don’t just make announcements, we have a plan.’
She added: ‘This is not showbusiness. This is not a game. This is about people’s lives…
‘People sometimes will vote for protest parties, but what I’m saying now is that you will have to live with what you vote for.’
But her main attack was against Labour‘s record in local government, highlighting an ongoing bin strike in troubled Birmingham and telling the audience: ‘Vote Labour, get trash.’
However Mr Farage hit back, saying: ‘Kemi’s new slogan is comical. The Tories’ track record in local government is one of higher taxes and crumbling services.
Ms Badenoch used a speech in Buckinghamshire to warn that Reform, which is hopeful of taking many of the Tory seats, to warn that its politicians ‘have never run anything’.
But her main attack was against Labour ‘s record in local government, highlighting an ongoing bin strike in troubled Birmingham and telling the audience: ‘Vote Labour, get trash.’
‘After decades of mismanagement, Conservative councils across the country are buckling under the pressure.’
Voters across a number of county councils and unitary authorities in England will go to the polls on May 1, the first major electoral test since last July’s election.
Elections in nine areas have been delayed for a year amid the reorganisation of local government in England.
In February it was announced that East Sussex, West Sussex, Essex, Thurrock, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Norfolk, Suffolk and Surrey have been postponed until 2026.
The move came after a white paper published in December abolished two-tier council areas.
The Conservatives would lose ‘every single’ council it won in 2021 if last year’s general election results were mapped onto the coming local poll, Mrs Badenoch warned.
The Tory leader said: ‘This year will be different. It will be the first time since the general election – the greatest defeat in our party’s history – that we fight these seats.
‘If you map that general election result of 2024 onto this coming May, then we don’t win the councils we won in 2021, we lose almost every single one.’
While she said the party would likely ‘do a bit better than that’, Mrs Badenoch added she knows ‘that these elections will be extremely difficult’.
However Mr Farage hit back, saying: ‘Kemi’s new slogan is comical. The Tories’ track record in local government is one of higher taxes and crumbling services.’
